Fireworks
by Swiftchanted
Summary: If you're reading this, then I guess you must be pretty crazy to read my diary. But since you're here, I'll introduce myself. My name is Stella Yamada, and I made the mistake of falling in love with Charlie Delgado. Starlie. Oneshot.


**Happy fourth! This is my present to all of you! Bahah, it's one in the morning right now, and I'm up dating FanFiction. Aren't I nice? So quick story…I originally began this oneshot on my iPod as a boredom killer while I was in Café 49, and it eventually became something that I just added on to every night after everyone in the house was asleep. And after about a month and a few days, it's finally done! I really do hope you like it…it's definitely one of my favorite pieces of writing, because it was the most fun to write. Anyways…enjoy!  
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><p>My name is Stella Yamada. And I made the mistake of falling in love with Charlie Delgado. Why, you may ask yourself, would the rebellious badass that I am fall in love with sweet, quiet, innocent little Charlie Delgado?<p>

Simple. I have no willpower when it comes to Charlie.

There is nothing that that boy will ever say or do to me that will never affect my life. If he asked me to run and grab him a Mel's, I'd do it with a smile. If he asked me to jump off a cliff? No matter how hard I'd try and fight it off, I'd still probably jump off the cliff. Because Charlie has this weird way about him, like if you looked at him, his face just makes your heart melt, and you'd be willing to do anything for the kid.

I remember the day that I found myself falling hard for Charlie as though it happened just yesterday.

"They're quitters!" I had shrieked.

Charlie tucked his drumsticks in his back pocket and scowled. "Shut up, Stella!"

I was taken aback. I hadn't known Charlie for very long, but he was like Olivia almost. He never spoke up, much less yelled. I felt tears prick my eyes, and I took a deep breath as Wen began to play the first notes of "Somebody". The whole song I focused only on the notes I was playing, and tried extremely hard not to cry.

The next few months, I stood back and watched Charlie follow Mo around like a lovesick puppy. He never did know when to quit, poor guy.

I fell in love with Charlie that night of Rising Star. As bad as I felt for all of us, seeing as how everyone except for me was disabled, I felt the worst for Charlie. The poor guy had a broken heart and three broken fingers. And when he grabbed my shoulder and then my waist while the crowd was singing our song up to us...I felt like I belonged in the world. You know that tingly feeling when you're in someone's arms? Yeah. I had that feeling.

Charlie made me feel like a girl. And not just a girl, but a girly girl. I remember the day he showed up at my house, that fateful one-oh-three degree weathered day, the day that his smile melted me into an even larger puddle.

He had ran his fingers through that glorious mane of hair and smiled. "Hey Stella," he sighed. The heat wasn't bothering only me apparently.

I looked down to make sure I didn't look like an idiot. I was wearing my bathing suit cover up overtopping my bathing suit, and I smirked as I leaned up against the doorframe. "Enjoying the weather?" I asked.

Charlie shrugged. "It's too hot to enjoy anything." I pointed out back.

"I was going to hit the pool, wanna come with?" I asked. Charlie was one of my best guy friends, and I hadn't seen him in quite some time ever since my trip to the Carolinas. He looked different; his hair seemed slightly longer, and it was obvious he had spent some time in the sun. It looked as though he had grown a couple inches also.

"I don't have a bathing suit, Stella." he had pointed out. God Charlie, I'm trying to be nice here, I'd appreciate it if you'd start cooperating!

"Your house is what, three blocks away? Go home and get one. I'll even be nice and wait for you." I smiled and shut the door in his face. Hopefully he'd take a hint. I peered out the window, and the second his back turned I dashed up the stairs and locked the door to my room.

Even if it was just Charlie, it was still a guy coming over. I stripped off the cover up and looked at the bathing suit I had on. It was a black string bikini that I had bought in the Carolinas. I looked at my hair and frowned. The sloppy bun look was not working. I waltzed into my bathroom and turned the sink on. I stuck my fingers under the faucet and then ran them through my hair.

I took the damp strips of my hair and crushed them in my hand. My hair was looking slightly more wavy, and after my hair looked a bit more decent, I sprayed it down with hairspray. I ran a hand over my legs and thanked Jesus I had shaved the previous night. My French manicure was still holding up, and I smiled into the mirror. Wait...teeth. I grabbed my toothbrush and my toothpaste and after oozing out some toothpaste I scrubbed my teeth until all I could taste was mint toothpaste.

I dashed back into my room and peered out the window that overlooked our pool. So far, no Charlie. I unplugged my cell phone from the charger and I grabbed my bottle of tanning lotion as I bounded down the stairs and out the living room doors onto the patio.

I set my phone down on the small table as I slowly leaned back into the pool chair. I began to rub the tanning lotion all over my arms, legs, and chest. There was an uneasy silence, so I reached over and turned the radio on. The song 'Just Haven't Met You Yet' came on and I giggled.

"What's so funny?" a voice said as I jumped fifty feet in the air. Charlie laughed as he shut the door behind him, and I put my hand over my chest as I started breathing hard.

"Don't do that." I panted as I continued to rub tanning lotion over my legs. Charlie grabbed the bottle from between my ankles and I looked up from my legs to get the bottle back. I felt my heart freeze as I laid eyes on Charlie.

The kid had been working out, that was for sure. He had a six pack, and his chest was almost as tan as his face. He must have been outside with no shirt on...man did I regret not seeing that sight. "Give my lotion back," I whined.

Charlie smiled. "I'm good."

"Then you can rub it on my back." I stated, rolling out of the chair and standing up. I pulled my hair to the side, and I heard Charlie open the bottle and squirt some of the lotion on his hands. His hands smacked together as he rubbed the lotion on both his hands.

The feeling of his hands on my back was sensational. He started at the base of my neck, slowly rubbing in the lotion. I bit my lip to hold in a moan. Man, was this a needed massage or what? Charlie continued rubbing in the lotion, his hands flicking the ties on my bathing suit. His warm hands worked down my back, and ever so gently, he glided his hands down my hips, rubbing in the lotion. He then traipsed his hands back up the sides of my body, and stopped right below my chest line. His hands snuck around to the front of my chest. I wanted to close my eyes and just freeze time as he pulled me closer.

And without a warning, I found myself being flipped into the pool. The cold water hit me like a brick in the face. I squealed as I shot back up from under water, and I glared at Charlie who was just laughing.

"You're just asking for it, Delgado!"

Charlie smirked. "And I'm asking for you to bring it now." Ooh, getting cocky now aren't we? I pushed myself up out of the pool and bit my lip. It was time for revenge.

I smiled as sexily as I possibly could and sat down on the edge of the pool. He raised an eyebrow, and I just patted the place beside me as if I was telling him to come sit with me. The less I said, the better I got him. He walked over awkwardly and sat down. I kicked my feet in the water for a moment, and then I turned to face him.

"There's something I want to try," I muttered. I leaned up against his arm and began to trace it as lightly as I could. Hook line and sinker...here we go. I leaned up to him and lightly kissed his cheek. Oh god, was I actually doing this? I mean, I knew that I was just doing this to torture him, but did it have to torture me too?

I lightly traced my finger over his jaw line and delicately placed another kiss there, and if I wasn't mistaken, I could have sworn I heard him growl. I grabbed his face with my hand and turned to face me. I began to lean in, and I felt him leaning in. _Man I wanted to kiss him, NO STELLA YOU ARE NOT KISSING HIM, but he's like putty in your hands, JUST FREAKING FLIP HIM ALREADY!_

As much as I hated to, I grabbed his arm and threw him into the pool. While he was under, I jumped on top of his shoulders and began to push him under. I giggled as he began to thrash about, and he mustered up some strength and flipped me off his back. So much for total revenge.

I resurfaced and glared at him. "You win this round for now but only because I don't have anything better for revenge planned out yet." Charlie raised an eyebrow and I sighed.

For a second my heart stopped. It just sounded like Charlie Delgado murmured under his breath, "You lead guys on too much, Stella." WHOA WHOA WHOA. I don't think I was hearing straight. In fact I think I might have been imagining all of this. Time to find out if he talked, I made up stuff in my head, or if I was turning into a Mai warrior with my super hearing abilities.

"Did you say something?" I asked, my voice a lot higher than usual. What the-_QUIT SOUNDING LIKE A FREAKING CHIPMUNK!_Charlie shook his head with that 'I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about-but-really-I-do' look of his on his face. Okay, lie to my face Delgado! I appreciate it.

"Well now that we're in the pool, is there anything you wanted to do?" Charlie asked. WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA. Inside my head, I was screaming hypocrite and happily telling Charlie that he was number one, but on the outside I was playing the game with my poker face on.

"Uh nope nope! Everything is fabulous in Stella-land, just peachy!" Okay now I sounded like a total idiot, talking complete nonsense. Charlie just nodded.

Right as it looked like Charlie was finally going to spill, the radio came back on with a slow song. Great. Just FABULOUS. Charlie held his hand out and I looked at him as though he was crazy. "Want to dance?"

I shrugged. "Depends, are you a good dancer?" Wait, what was I doing? Leading him on. I really need to get help with that.

Charlie mimicked my shrug. "You'll never know unless you try." I rolled my eyes and took his hand. We began to do probably the most ridiculous waltz ever, making it even more ridiculous seeing as how we were halfway submerged in chlorine infested water.

I laughed as he dipped me under, and then pulled me up to twirl me around. Charlie smiled as he grabbed my waist. "Don't let go, okay?"

"What?" I laughed. He gave me a look and I just nodded. No letting go, aye aye captain.

Without warning, I found myself being lifted into the air. If this is what ice skaters did, then I was going to seriously consider competitive skating. But not unless Charlie did it with me...WHAT AM I SAYING? Charlie's hands were wrapped firmly around my waist, and just to live a bit of the rockstar life, I struck a little pose. He lowered me down back into the water, and spun me around before I found myself wrapped up in his arms. His hands were tightly constricted around my waist as we swayed ever so slightly. My hands crept up to around his neck, and for a moment, our bodies were pressed up against each others. I felt myself slowly moving in, and I could feel the heat off his face growing closer to mine. That meant he was leaning in...wait, that meant he was going to kiss me! FOCUS STELLA. And right as our lips were millimeters away, the patio doors opened and the disturbances that I happen to call my band mates strolled out. Me and Charlie awkwardly pulled away and to lighten some of the tension, I punched Charlie in the abs. I almost kissed Charlie. And the whole band almost saw the whole thing. Inside, the little Stella was on her knees screaming, "NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! GO AWAY MO AND OLIVIA AND WEN, JUST GO! GET! GIVE ME FIVE MORE MINUTES!" The outside Stella? Yeah she was blushing. And according to the heat that was radiating off my body, I was guessing that my face was the color of a Heinz ketchup bottle.

After awhile, the gang left, and I decided that I needed to take a shower before I set out on my adventure. Through that entire time, I continually replayed the scene of mine and Charlie's almost kiss in my head. What if the rest of the band hadn't interrupted? Would we have kissed? I sighed. Now we'd never know.

That day I did the most unthinkable, craziest, the most single handed out of character thing I had ever done in my entire life. I, Stella Yamada, went out and bought a diary.

Not a notebook. Not a journal. No, we're talking a pink diary with lock, key, and everything. It was even fuzzy...dear god. I was losing it.

And the first words that went in that diary? I think I'm in love with Charlie Delgado.

Yeah. I'm smooth.

After writing almost three pages of what had happened that day, I sat my pen down and sighed. If I continued writing like this until that diary and two more were filled, then I'd have arthritis by twenty-three. Now came the real challenge.

Hiding the diary and key so the wonderful snoopers I call Mohini and Olivia don't get their hands on my deepest, darkest secrets.

I shoved the diary underneath my mattress. There, that would work. Now for the key issue...I couldn't just leave it out for the world to see unless I wanted total humiliation. So being the genius I was, I put it on a chain. I smiled; that would work. No one would actually think it was an actual key if I wore it as a necklace. Was I intelligent or what?

If you guessed or what, you win a free car and a million dollars.

So being my ingenious self, I decided to leave my diary in my car since I had spent some days in the driver's seat in a random deserted parking lot, just writing about my latest installment with Charlie. Dang, all I needed to do was change some names and I could probably make millions off that thing as a hopeless teen romance novel where the girl admires the guy from a far and does absolutely nothing about her crush except for, well, crushing.

Mohini and Olivia, being the evil women they are, found my diary in my car when I spent the night, and while I was asleep, they slipped the necklace off my neck and BAM! They knew everything. So the next morning I was awoken to two overly smiling, energetic teenage girls, one laughing uncontrollably.

"What the...?" I mumbled sleepily as I sat up, yawning. Yes, so smooth.

Mo just rolled her eyes. "We read your diary, journal, whatever you wanna call it." My mouth dropped.

"You WHAT?" I screeched. Yep, I was awake now. I crawled over to where Mo was and just stared at her.

"Yeah...we read your diary. I didn't stutter Yamada." My face was on fire, and Olivia just had her head in her hands, giggling uncontrollably. Figures. Whenever Olivia knew something she probably shouldn't, she laughed and laughed and laughed until she crashed.

"Charlie?" Mo spluttered, in laughs of her own. If it was possible, which I don't think it was at this point, my face got redder and I just looked down.

"What? I mean Olivia likes Wen! It's no different."

Mo laid a hand on my shoulder. "But Stella dear, Wen's no Charlie." I scowled at her and dove back under my comforter and didn't resurface until Mo bribed me with a McDonald's run.

Over the next few weeks, every time I'd even LOOK like I would walk over to Charlie, Olivia would go into a laughing fit and Mo would start fake coughing and practically announcing to the world that I, Stella Yamada, was in limbo of being love with Charlie Delgado. Every time they'd do that, Charlie would look at them curiously, Wen would stare at them with that, 'I'm-going-to-put-you-two-in-a-mental-institute' look of his, and I'd just stare intently at my lap. I had to start approaching this guy either through technology or places where Mo and Olivia WEREN'T.

It was tradition to go to Dante's every Thursday and then go on a walk right afterwards, and honestly, I was DREADING the walk. What with Mo coughing her fake head off and Olivia laughing so hard she can't breathe, we were on the one way road to disaster. Wen probably had 911 already dialed and was just waiting on the right moment to press send. And Charlie? Well, knowing his slowness, it probably wouldn't hit him until, oh I don't know, a month later, but still!

So when we got up to leave the table, my legs felt like they had been replaced with grape jelly. Mo shot me one of her infamous sneaky smiles, and I glared at her as though I was saying, "You start and I'll finish...YOU!" Charlie made the extremely terrible mistake of choosing to walk beside me. Mo's eyes lit up and I gave her a death glare. She just nudged Olivia and I rolled my eyes. This was going to be a long walk.

About five minutes into the walk, Wen was humming Britney Spears. And truth be told, it was extremely harmful to both my sanity and my health. I just stared at Olivia, who was blushing profusely as Wen intertwined their hands together. Mo smacked her forehead and I just continued to keep all my focus on the sidewalk.

Trying to be a good friend, Mo continued to bump into me, causing me to brush up against Charlie. Apparently this was supposed to send our relationship into the next dimension? I never did understand Mo...I loved her, but she'd be the death of me. Charlie was clearly more embarrassed than me in this situation, which made my want to strangle Mo all the more dominant.

By the end of the walk, I was feeling terrible, and not because of Mo's failed attempts to get me and Charlie to, hell I don't know, make love in the streets. Was I coming down with something? God I hoped not, because if I was, Mo would have sent Charlie to take care of me. Mo looked at me confusedly as I sat down on the curb trying to catch my breath.

"Stella, are you okay?" she asked, clearly concerned. I began to fan myself as I shook my head. "Well, do you think you can walk back to your car?" I just shook my head. I understood that it got hot here in Rhode Island but I didn't think it was supposed to get THIS hot.

Mo looked around, and then smiled evilly. "I have an idea," she said. I groaned. Those were possibly the four most deadliest words to ever come out of her mouth, that and, "Here comes Stella Delgado!"

Mo clapped her hands. "Charlie, why don't you carry Stella back?" Everyone besides me seemed open to the idea. I stood up to protest, but another heat wave hit me, and I was down for it. Charlie smiled and just pointed to his back. I shook my head, and Mo rolled her eyes. She helped me onto his back, and as soon as my arms were wrapped around his neck, Mo stepped back to admire her dirty work. I tried to shoot a scowl at Mo, but I was feeling way too faint to even throw an insult at her.

Charlie sauntered back to Dante's with me on his back, and if I wasn't mistaken, the evil creature named Mo was video taping the whole thing. I knew exactly what she would title it-"Stella and Charlie; Wedding Video Material." Oh, how I despised Mo at that moment. We finally made it back to Dante's, where I clambered off Charlie's back as fast as I could. The less footage Mo had, the sounder I could sleep at night. I spun around, slightly stumbling because I still wasn't feeling one hundred percent there, and waved at Wen, Olivia, and Mo. Charlie grasped my hand and I silently cursed him down into the deepest pits of the devil's bedroom. Mo had her phone whipped out, but Olivia lowered it as they watched in dead silence. I felt my body temperature rise if that was even possible at this point, and Charlie smiled down on me.

"Feel better, okay?" I just nodded as he squeezed my shoulder and walked off to his car. Feeling like I was being forced to beat the clock, I hastily jumped in my car before Mo could start aww-ing her head off.

Locking the doors, I slouched back in my seat. Today's walk had been more productive than I thought.

The next few days passed, and I was constantly reminded of what had happened on Thursday, as though I hadn't been there. Wanting to slap Mo silly was now at the top of my list, and if I had the chance, I'd go ahead and start now. Because she's gone OVERBOARD with the whole Stella Charlie thing. In fact, she told me she had made up a couple name for us. I pushed her in the pool for that one.

My diary has become something like a therapist these days, especially since my crush on Charlie has grown tenfold. Charlie, still being the ever clueless moron he is, still has not picked up any such hint that I like him, or that Mo likes the idea that him and I should start making out spontaneously and then profess our love for each other. I swear, I'm replacing her chick flick collection with all the Scream movies. And since I'm too smart of a person to tell Wen, my diary's been happy to listen to all my problems. Not like it has any choice.

Mo happily advertised the Fourth of July Ball to us one day at Dante's, which I was sort of grateful for, seeing as how the words Stella, Charlie, and wedding didn't come up. With all these extreme attempts to get Charlie to ask me out, he sure was being ignorant to them. But then my worst fear was confirmed. Mo told us that as a band, we would all have opposite sex dates. At that moment, I felt like jumping up and slamming Mo's hands in between my car door. Damn my stupid idea of leaving my diary in my car. Mo just eyed Charlie, who was studying the flier. Thank God he was ignorant. Otherwise I would have been toasted in Mo's toaster and eaten with butter and jam on top of me a LOONG time ago.

I shrugged. "A date, no problem." Olivia's eyes grew wide and Mo almost choked on her water. I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on, just because I'm Stella, doesn't mean I can't get a guy!" Mo just glared at me with that, "If-you're-trying-to-ask-Charlie-out-to-this-dance-you-better-start-talking-now" look of hers.

After an overly animated discussion about dates, I slapped my thighs and stood up. "I best be going, my mom's leaving me to babysit the twin geniuses yet again," I smirked, waving both my hands. I smiled at Mo and Olivia, and walked out the door.

What I didn't expect was for Charlie to come running out behind me. I smacked my forehead with the palm of my hand; not only was he making things worse for me, he was making them worse for himself. I knew any second Mo would come flying out the door like a ninja with a video camera, but to my surprise, she didn't. I turned around and smiled at him.

"Stella?" he asked. Well gee, Delgado, who else would you be talking to, the lamppost?

"Yes?" I said sweetly. No way was my inner voice coming out now. Charlie ran his fingers through his hair.

"I was just wondering...if, you know...you didn't have anyone else in mind...would you want to go to the ball with me?" I blushed. Aww. Charlie was so nervous that it was actually kind of cute. He never acted like this around me, so that must have meant he was making an effort to really impress me. I was really thanking my lucky stars that Mo was not present.

"I'd love to," I said. Charlie broke out in a smile, and it took all I had not to just jump up and kiss both cheeks.

"Great! I'll see you then, Stella." This is where I KNEW that Charlie was trying to impress me. Because he NEVER called me Stella. It was either Yamada or Stell, or Stellbell, but NEVER Stella. His hand caressed my shoulder as he turned and walked back to his car.

I skipped down the sidewalk back home. And Stella Yamada doesn't skip.

I got home and dashed up the stairs into my room. I locked my door and immediately delved into the horrors that is my closet. I needed a dress...where was a dress? I sighed as I laid back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. My phone vibrated, and I drowsily picked it up. It was a text from none other than the Mohini herself, suggesting that I meet her and Olivia at the mall to do a little dress shopping. I rolled my eyes. I knew exactly why Mo or Olivia hadn't come out to spy on me. Wen and apparently Scott had asked the two of them. I grabbed my purse (yet another insanity I now had) and sashayed out to my car.

The mall. It's always been a sore subject with me. And when I arrived in the parking lot, I immediately regretted agreeing to come. I walked in warily, and saw Mo and Olivia actively talking on a bench. I walked in front of them and struck a pose.

"Mohinis and Olivias, the beautiful, talented and amazing Stella Yamada has arrived." The two busted out in laughter, and I folded my arms. But I couldn't be serious. As they stood up, I smiled.

"So Stella, have you found your date yet?" Mo asked suggestively. That evil little girl. She knew Charlie asked me. She just wanted to hear me say it. In my diary, I already had plans of revenge, and they went something like this.

1. Throw her in a pit of sharks.  
>2. Push her out of a plane next time we're on one.<br>3. Sign her up for a lifetime non-quittable job at a lightbulb factory.

So far, I was leaning towards three, but, we'll just see. Mo raised an eyebrow and I sighed.

"Charlie asked me earlier," I said. Mo's mouth dropped open. Okay, so maybe she didn't know. She squealed and grabbed my shoulders.

"Stella! That's awesome! We have to find you the prettiest, sexiest, most gorgeous dress for you to wear so you can impress your maan." I rolled my eyes, as Mo and Olivia began to drag me to the closest dress store. It was going to be a long evening.

We scoured through two enormous dress stores until I surprised myself and actually found a dress that I liked. It was a deep red dress that brushed over my kneecaps slightly, and showed off all the unknown curves I apparently had nicely. Mo said that I wanted a dress like this, and that I just had to get it. I was a bit iffy on the dress; I liked it, but would it impress Charlie? STOP ASKING YOURSELF THAT QUESTION! YOU TWO ARE GOING AS FRIENDS! My inner conscience demon was now shouting to quit dreaming and get back with the program, and I think I was getting a headache from her or...it.

Mo folded the dress she was buying over her arm and looked at me. "Are you getting that dress, Stella?" Mo had picked out an aquamarine dress and was getting ready to pay. How I knew what aquamarine was...I don't even know. I nodded, and pulled out my debit card.

I didn't believe in credit cards...why, I'm still asking myself that question. But I just don't. So after Mo was standing by Olivia with her bag, I took a deep breath and swiped my card. Moment of truth there, because I now owned a dress. Mo and Olivia applauded and I scowled at them. "Oh, shut up."

I had assumed that when we had found our dresses, we would have been el finished with shopping. Of course not. Mo drug me off to buy some shoes. Because she was too lazy to let me borrow a pair of hers or Olivia's. I wanted to reach over, grab Mo's arm and bite her, but I didn't.

I left the mall that day with a new dress, a pair of shoes, and a purse. It was official, I was turning into a Mo and I had to draw the line now, otherwise I was going to be in hell later on.

Mo swore later on that week that she would make me look as sexy as Stella Yamada could get. Thank Jesus Charlie wasn't present, otherwise he would have heard my extremely perverted response and Mo's take on that. The dance was approaching that weekend, and every time I even looked as if I would go talk to Charlie, Mo would pull me aside, and tell me not to ruin everything. I would look at her crazily, and then proceed to go and ask Charlie what time he would pick me up and so forth.

It was finally the night of the dance. And frankly? I was freaking out. Mo told me that I should just come out of the closet and tell Charlie I liked him. I had held up a curling iron as a weapon and a threat. "Suggest that or bring that topic up again, and you'll have a burn mark on your arm the size of Australia." After that, Mo backed off.

I was being forced to have my hair and makeup done by Mo since I was not trusted to do my own thing...smart people. I had already put my dress on, and Mo was now fixing my hair. Olivia was sitting beside me putting on eyeliner, and I just stared at her. She looked like a model...was that how I was going to look? Like a perfect, plastic Barbie doll who has no soul? God I hoped not. Mo slammed the curling iron down on my vanity and I jumped a bit. Mo eyed me as she held up the hairspray. I looked at her in horror as she began to spray what felt like my entire body with hairspray, when really all she was spraying was my hair. I began to cough violently, and after she stopped spraying, I elbowed her in the stomach.

"What was that for?" she cried. You're seriously asking that question, Mo.

"For putting enough hairspray on me to destroy the entire ozone layer!" I sighed. Mo just glared at me as she held up a bottle of concealer. She grinned evilly, and I groaned. Here came part two of Torture Stella Time.

"Makeup time," she chirped. Suddenly my face was being attacked by sponges, brushes, applicators, and tubes of lipstick. After fifteen long, painful minutes, Mo finally backed away. "Stella...you look...so non Stella-ish." I rolled my eyes. She bent down and handed me the pair of shoes I was forced to spend my money on for the occasion. I slipped them on, mumbling about Antarctica and penguins and cargo crates. Mo just snorted.

I stood up and adjusted my dress, then I sauntered over to the mirror. I jumped back a little because I was startled. I didn't even recognize the girl on the other side of the mirror. The stranger looked perfect. She had her hair curled perfectly, with her bangs pulled back into a bump-it like fashion, and the red dress she wore looked really nice on her. And the black Stilettos she was in seemed to tie her whole outfit together. And being the total idiot I am, I blindly raised my hand up to the mirror. The stranger chick followed, and I shook my head, lowering my arm quickly. I was officially losing it.

The doorbell rang, and I began to shove stuff into the clutch I was forced to buy also. Phone, keys, wallet, eye shadow, lip gloss, powder...wait a second. Something was wrong. I whipped around.

"Why is the entire Covergirl makeup collection in this thing?" I shrieked. Mo just rolled her eyes.

"Just put that stuff in mine or Olivia's if you don't wanna carry it." I smiled smugly and started jamming all the makeup in Mo's clutch. The doorbell rang for a second time, and all of us girls exchanged looks.

"Are we ready?" Olivia asked. I gulped.

"Can we pray first?" I squeaked. Mo glared, and without a warning, I found myself being dragged out of my safe fortress and out into the lions den.

I walked down the stairs gripping to the banister for dear life. I hoped and prayed that there were no more staircases, because if there were, I was forcing Mo to carry me. Mo and Olivia made it to the bottom before I did, and they went ahead and flung open my door. I tried to speed up the whole walking-down-stairs-without-breaking-my-neck process, and by the time all the guys were in my house, I was finally at the bottom. Inside my head, the little Stella had both fists in the air, saying, "Heck yeah!" Outside Stella was blushing like a maniac. Because Charlie and I had laid eyes on one another.

He had on a tux, like Wen and Scott, and was wearing a red tie. The closer I got to him, the more Axe I smelled on him. He was just staring at me, and I bit my lip as I slowly walked a bit closer to Charlie. I smiled faintly, as he handed me a rose. My face went fire red, and I could have sworn I heard the words, "They so have the hots for each other," escape Mo's mouth. I wanted to round on her, but I didn't. Tonight was my night with Charlie.

Scott clapped his hands together, and inside I thought, "Dude, we're not watching Barney, you don't have to clap every time you wanna say something. Just say it." Outside Stella? She was looking at Scott intently as though he was about to give the Order of the Union speech. "Shall we?"

Mo giggled like a school girl. "To the limo!" she cheered. A limo. We were going to the Fourth of July Ball in a LIMO. How crazy were these people? Though the second I heard there was a mini fridge inside, I suddenly thanked the gods for the genius that suggested we all go in a limo.

The seating chart inside the limo had obviously been arranged by none other than Mohini Banjaree, because Charlie and I were on one side of the limo, and Scott, Mo, Olivia, and Wen were jam-packed on the other side. What did Mo think we were gonna do, lay down the whole ride there and make out?

The ride there was awkwardly silent. Wen, of all people, tried to lighten the tension by humming believe it or believe it, Britney Spears. It didn't lighten the tension one bit; it just made my want to duct tape his mouth shut a lot stronger. I toyed with the rose the whole way there, even when Mo yelled at the driver to crank the radio up and we all started shout-singing.

When we finally got to the country club that they decided to throw the ball in, I took a deep breath. I grabbed my rose and clutch and began to slide my way across the seat towards the door. Charlie, who had gotten out before me, held out his hand. I smiled as I took it, and as soon as I was out of the car, I looked down at our hands which were intertwined. He didn't let go until the rest of the gang was out of the limo. He offered me his arm and I took it, blushing. Thank God Mo didn't have her video camera.

We walked in to see what I thought was a nicely decorated gym type area. There were red, white, silver, and blue streamers, balloons, table cloths, and the DJ booth was set up at the front of the room. I smiled to myself. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Mo started to shout at me, but I didn't hear a word she said. "WHAT?" I yelled back. She sighed.

"I SAID, LET'S GO AND GRAB A TABLE!" I nodded, and followed after her the others, with Charlie right by my side. He must have really been making an effort to make me happy tonight. We approached a table off to the side, which had six chairs and was topped off with a blue and silver table cloth with silver star shaped confetti pieces scattered about. A red candle sat in the middle of the table, flickering gently. We all sat our stuff down, and then came yet another awkward silence. We really were bad about that.

Olivia cleared her throat. "Let's go dance!" I was shocked. The girl never spoke two words much less announce that we were all going to do something, no ifs ands or buts about it. That was usually mine and sometimes Mo's department. But, it was nice seeing Olivia using her voice.

We all followed after her to the middle of the dance floor, where a lot of people had already started dancing. None of us were really putting any effort into the whole dance thing. And as soon as we all started getting our groove on about ten songs and a bottle of Coke later, my luck went from amazing all the way down to the deepest pits of hell.

A slow song came on.

I scowled as Mo threw me a wink, and sauntered off somewhere with Scott to dance. I knew Olivia and Wen were probably hiding behind a decoration or something dancing, because that's just them. Charlie held out his hand as if he was asking me to dance.

"Is hand gestures the new way that Charlie Delgado asks for something?" I smirked, taking his hand. Charlie just rolled his eyes.

"You better be glad that there's no pool at this thing." Charlie grinned. So the Charlie I knew was now returning from whatever awkward planet he had been on. I started to open my mouth and say that the pool was outside, but I didn't.

Charlie pulled me out to the center left of the whole thing, and I felt my body stiffen up. Come on legs, MOVE IT! But the crazy voice inside my head started talking for me. "I'm not a very good dancer, you know." I mumbled.

Charlie just smiled. "Dance like we did in your pool, okay? Just follow my lead." For once, I was happy to be a follower. Charlie and I began to dance slowly, and I had to say, I was enjoying all the twirling, even if I was slightly dizzy. Charlie pulled me in after one twirl to where my back was against his chest, with his arms wrapping around my stomach. We swayed like that for a moment, and then he twirled me back to where we were face to face. I slowly felt our faces moving in closer, and again, to my fabulous luck, the song changed to a rap song. Not exactly ideal kissing music. So we both slowly backed away awkwardly.

Charlie was still holding my hand, and even though I wasn't complaining about it, it felt so extremely...natural to me, which sort of surprised me. Charlie smiled down upon me. "Do you want to go get some food? I hear they have red velvet cake." And with that, I was off.

Charlie and I returned to our table with our plates piled high with red velvet cake, strawberries, CHOCOLATE COVERED strawberries, and lots of other completely random foods. Mo was sitting at the table, and Charlie and I sat opposite her, secretly holding hands. "Where's Scott?" I asked.

Mo pointed back to the snack area. "He's grabbing us some cake," she sighed. I looked at her concerningly.

"What's up?" I asked. Mo slouched down, with her chin rested upon her propped up hand.

"Ray. He showed up and Scott was extremely pissed because Ray's supposedly banned from the country club." My jaw tightened, and I began to squeeze the life out of Charlie's hand. And being the moron I happen to be, I jumped up.

"Stella, where are you going?" he asked. I popped my knuckles.

"To find a blonde Mudslide Crush bastard," I hissed. Marching off like a little toy soldier, I spotted Ray's blonde hair out by the pool. I scowled and pushed open the doors.

"Well well well," I said. Ray spun around and I could clearly tell that he liked what he saw.

"Loser Mouth? Is that you? Or did your extremely hot twin sister take over for you tonight?" he asked, laying a hand on my shoulder. I smacked it off like it was a mosquito.

"There's only one Stella, and you're looking at her. And she's telling you to high tail it out of here while you can still walk." I growled. Ray smiled that innocent little 'I-don't-know-who-the-hell-you-think-you-are' smile that drove me insane.

"Just because I'm banned from here doesn't mean I can't make a little appearance. It won't hurt, especially if no one knows. I was getting ready to leave, anyways. Say...you should ditch whatever ugly ass freak you brought and come with me. I could show you a real man, Stella." Ray cooed seductively. My heart froze. He did not just call my Charlie-_well, Charlie in general, well he was your date tonight, technically he is yours, OH JUST SHUT UP STELLA!-_an ugly ass freak.

I walked closer to Ray with a sinister gleam in my eye. "Unless the ugly ass freak you're referring to is yourself, then no thank you." And with that, I pushed his sorry ass into the pool. I laughed as he came up spluttering. Things got even better because security finally showed up and escorted Ray's soaking body off the premises. Charlie, Mo, and Scott all walked out and just stared at me.

Mo eyed me warily. "Stella...what did you do?" I chuckled.

"Let's just say big boy Ray went swimming without his life jacket on and ended up being eaten by sharks." Mo just looked at me as though I was insane. Charlie grasped my hand.

Scott ran his fingers through his hair. "Come on guys, we've got about thirty minutes until the fireworks show, let's go grab Wen and Olivia." It was already eleven thirty? Damn! Walking back into the main hall where the ball was being thrown, the DJ was rapidly discussing about if the outdoor speakers worked or not. People were staring at me and Charlie, and my face was probably redder than my dress.

We found Olivia and Wen sitting at the table, and Mo smiled. "Come on you guys, let's go on outside before it gets too crowded." Olivia stood up along with Wen, and to my half surprise, they were holding hands as well.

The six of us all went outside to the deck that overlooked the ground, which was about forty feet below us. Charlie reassuringly squeezed my hand. More and more people came flooding out to the deck as music came pouring out of the speakers. At exactly eleven fifty five according to what the DJ said, the upbeat music stopped and a voice came through the speakers.

"Alright everybody, before we start our fireworks show, there's one last slow song we'd like to play for all the couples out there. Maybe the real firework show is between you and your lucky guy or gal." The voice faded from the speakers, and I snorted.

Charlie eyed me curiously. "Oh come on, you can not say that that wasn't the cheesiest thing you have ever heard!" Charlie just nodded in agreement.

"Would you...?" he trailed off, holding out his hand as a slow acoustic guitar came through the speakers. I smiled, taking his hand.

_She's a wave and she is breaking__  
><em>_She's a problem to solve__  
><em>_and in that circle she's making__  
><em>_I will always revolve_

_And on her sight__  
><em>_These eyes depend__  
><em>_Invisible and Indivisible_

I giggled as Charlie began to twirl me around. I never really noticed that I was so easygoing around him. Maybe I should take what was once Mo's forbidden advice and tell Charlie I had feelings for him.

_That fire you ignited__  
><em>_Good, bad and undecided__  
><em>_Burns when I stand beside it__  
><em>_Your light is ultraviolet_

_Visions so insane__  
><em>_Travel unraveling through my brain__  
><em>_Cold when I am denied it__  
><em>_Your light is ultraviolet__  
><em>_Ultraviolet_

_Now is a phase and it's changing__  
><em>_It's rotating us all__  
><em>_Thought we're safe but we're dangling__  
><em>_and it's too far to survive the fall_

_And this I know__  
><em>_It will not bend__  
><em>_Invisible and indivisible_

_That fire you ignited__  
><em>_Good, Bad and undecided__  
><em>_Burns when I stand beside it__  
><em>_Your light is ultraviolet_

_Visions so insane__  
><em>_Travel unraveling through my brain__  
><em>_Cold when I am denied it__  
><em>_Your light is ultraviolet,__  
><em>_ultraviolet__  
><em>  
>I smiled as Charlie picked me up and spun me around a bit for my pleasure. Maybe it really was time to come out of the closet and just tell him how I felt.<p>

_That fire you ignited__  
><em>_Good, Bad and undecided__  
><em>_Burns when I stand beside it__  
><em>_Your light is ultraviolet_

_Visions so insane__  
><em>_Travel unraveling through my brain__  
><em>_Cold when I am denied it__  
><em>_Your light is ultraviolet,__  
><em>_ultraviolet_

_Your light is ultraviolet_

"Charlie?" I whispered. I was surprised that he could even hear me over all of the noise.

"Yeah, Stells?" he asked me, his voice husky. I could see out of the corner of my eye Mo getting ready to come talk to me, and Olivia pulling her back murmuring something to her.

"Do you feel fireworks?" I mumbled, looking into his eyes. I felt his hands tilt my chin up towards his face a bit more, as I heard Mo and Olivia aww in the background.

_Visions so insane__  
><em>_Travel unraveling through my brain__  
><em>_Cold when I am denied it__  
><em>_Your light is ultraviolet__  
><em>_Ultraviolet_

With the last 'Ultraviolet', Charlie reached in and pressed his lips upon mine. The feeling was absolutely sensational, his lips were like the inside of the rose he had given me. I felt him slowly wrap his arms around my waist, and my hands snuck around his neck. The first firework went off in the distance, making a loud popping and sizzling noise. More and more kept firing as Charlie and I stayed intertwined with one another, just being two teenagers in love. So did this mean yes? Did he like me the way I liked him, after all of the school shenanigans and Rising Star and the pool day at my house? Did he genuinely have feelings for me? Well hell, my questions were sure getting answered alright.

We finally pulled away as another song came blaring out of the speakers. I smiled as he slipped his hand around my waist, and I nestled my head into the crook of his neck as we watched the fireworks. He looked down at me and smiled.

"Did that answer your question?" he murmured. I smirked.

"Like hell it did."

And so that is how, I Stella Yamada, made the mistake of falling in love with Charlie Delgado. You're probably still asking yourself, how in the world is all she went through a mistake? Well for starters, Charlie found and read my whole diary. And when Mo and Olivia found out? They stopped breathing they were laughing so hard.

_**Dear Stella, I thought that since you left your laptop open, I'd write a little something something. Your diary is by far the best book I've ever read...good god. It'd make you millions honey. **_

Thank you, Delgado, for interrupting the story.

But I guess you could say things turned out in my favor. And when I never have explanations for why I own three photo albums filled with mine and Charlie's pictures or doodles with Stella hearts Charlie in the margins of my lyric sheets or the obvious hickey on my neck? Mo just starts coughing and Olivia starts laughing. And once, Wen did have to call 911. Wen asked Mo what the emergency was so he could tell the operator, and Mo replied, "Starlie over here are so freaking adorable!"

I threw a piece of pizza at her in response. "Be glad it wasn't a stick of dynamite."

* * *

><p><strong>Well that's got to be by far the longest one shot I've ever written. Figures that it took what…a month to write? It was exactly seventeen pages on Word. Wow. I really really hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. The song, by the way, is Ultraviolet by The Stiff Dylans. Happy fourth again to all my amazing readers, reviewers, friends, and strangers! Be heard, be strong, and be proud…and remember, Starlie will rise among the rubble. xD Love, Emzy.<strong>


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